By Jeff Yerger

Staff Reporter

It’s that time of the year again. End-of-summer blues, back-to-school sales, the radio hits of the summer begin to fade away … you know the drill.

As sad as that all sounds, you have to look back at all the good times the summer of 2008 brought you.

There were plenty of good times to go around during this past summer, and many bands would agree.

For bands and everyday people alike, summer means the opportunity for concerts, festivals and new exciting albums.

Musicians even have summer jobs just like us, except at their jobs, there are screaming fans cheering for them every time they clock in for work.

Lots of things happened during these last three months, but which artists or bands had an especially wonderful summer?

For starters, M.I.A. grew in popularity thanks to ads for the movie “Pineapple Express” which featured M.I.A.’s surprise hit of the summer, “Paper Planes.” Now everybody’s singing along to the money-making chorus. Could Seth Rogen be the new iPod commercial?

The band of brothers, Kings of Leon, certainly had a breakthrough summer this year. With their ’07 North American tour behind them and the prospect of their new album being released later this year, the Kings of Leon made a huge impact on the music scene, headlining the famous Glastonbury Festival across the pond in England, which they described as “one of the best moments of our lives.”

They recently played the V Festival after announcing a North American and U.K. arena tour. Pretty big stuff for a small band from Nashville, and by the sound of their rockin’ new single, they’re only going to get bigger.

“Disney rock” was also the big craze this summer, and leave it to the Jonas Brothers to lead the onslaught. Make fun of them all you want; these guys had one of the best summers of anyone in the biz.

Starting with the Disney Channel movie “Camp Rock,” in which they starred, the Jonas Brothers went on to receive the rock-star treatment, snagging the front cover of Rolling Stone in July, as well as capturing the hearts of millions of pre-adolescent girls around the world.

Heck, Rolling Stone even gave their new album, “A Little Bit Longer,” four stars! How many bands can say that?

As big as the Jo-Bros got this summer, they are no match for the powerhouse that is Coldplay. The band returned to top form this summer, establishing its place as the biggest band in the world (for now).

Their new album, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” has been a massive hit, going platinum in the United States and double platinum already in the United Kingdom.

Coldplay can be seen everywhere from iTunes commercials to the front of Rolling Stone to even “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where Chris Martin boldly stated, “We’re as big as it gets.”

Judging by how this summer has gone for them, Martin can say that with confidence, for this may be the year of Coldplay, unless Bono has something to say about it.

Unfortunately, like summer, all good things have to come to an end, but that doesn’t mean that good music has to as well.

Most of these bands are still on tour keeping the spirit of the summer alive, so go see them and relive the summer of 2008.